Kodava is a Dravidian language spoken in Kodagu district (ಕೊಡಗು) of Karnataka state in southern India. In 2001 there were
about 166,000 speakers of Kodava, which is also known as
Kodava Takk, Kodava takka or Coorgi.
There are two dialects of Kodava: Mendele, which is spoken in
Northern and Central Kodagu, and Kiggat, which is spoken in Kiggat
naadu in Southern Kodagu.
Kodava was formerly considered a dialect of Kannada, however in the
early 20th century linguists recognized it as a separate language. It
is closely related to Tamil, Tulu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Kodava is usually written with the Kannada alphabet, and sometimes
with the Malayalam alphabet. Until the 20th century it was rarely
written. The most important piece of Kodava literature, a collection
of folksongs and traditions known as Pattole Palame, was published
in 1924 by Nadikerianda Chinnappa.
The Coorgi-Cox alphabet was developed in 2005 by a German linguist,
Gregg M. Cox, as a new way to write Kodava. The alphabet was developed
in response to a request from Kodava speakers for a unique alphabet
to write their language. The Coorgi-Cox provides a single alphabet for
all Kodava speakers, and was introduced with CDs and postcards in March
and April 2005.
Notable features
Type of writing system: alphabet
Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
Each letter represents a single sound
Coorgi-Cox alphabet for Kodava (Kurgi Koks Akṣaru)
Download alphabet charts for Kodava in Excel or PDF format
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